Recently, we told you about a broad array of new series now available on OU Torah. These included Hilchos Lashon Hara by Rabbi Mendel Kessin and Parenting and Being Parented by Rabbi Shmuel Silber. In that post, we teased that we had more coming from each of these educators when those two short series were concluded. Well, that time is now!
Hold that thought, while we talk about the Ramchal.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto – AKA the Ramchal – was a prominent Jewish philosopher from 18th-century Italy whose books are considered indispensible classics of Jewish thought. The Ramchal was a prolific writer who authored dozens of works. Among the better known of these are Derech Tevunos (“The Way of Understanding”), Daas Tevunos (“Knowledge of Understanding”), Sefer HaHigayon (“The Book of Logic”) and Maamar Hashem (“A Discourse on God”). But the Ramchal’s two most famous works are no doubt Mesillas Yesharim (“Path of the Just”) and Derech Hashem (“The Way of God”). Which brings us back to Rabbis Kessin and Silber.
OU Torah now features a shiur from Rabbi Kessin on Derech Hashem and one from Rabbi Silber on Mesillas Yesharim. Mesillas Yesharim is considered the musar sefer par excellence, studied in almost every yeshiva. It instructs readers on how to ascend a hierarchy of traits from watchfulness through zeal, piety, humility and others. Derech Hashem, as the name implies, outlines the basics of Jewish thought on the nature of God and His plan in creating the universe – including us.
As of this writing, we have posted one shiur in Mesillas Yesharim and three in Derech Hashem but we have plenty more on deck, to be featured weekly. If you’re hungry for more Ramchal in the interim, check out these shiurim on Ramchal from Rabbi Yochanan Bechhofer, as well as this serialized summary of ideas from Derech Hashem in The God Papers!
Follow all these great series and more online at OU Torah or by using the OU Torah app for iOS and Android. And sign up for OU Torah’s weekly Shavua Tov email to keep up with all of OU Torah’s daily and weekly Torah-study series!